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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 09 Hansard (Tuesday, 17 August 2004) . . Page.. 3746 ..

in a couple of weeks, and we can look forward to the look of the city improving fairly significantly, particularly its natural environment and its natural attributes.

I think Canberra is looking well, particularly in Belconnen and in some other parts, as a result of much of the work that has been done over the past two years in bush fire hazard reduction or preparation work. Some of our streets, urban parks and nature reserves are looking a little bit neater or tidier than they have looked for some time. Certainly, we could acknowledge and accept that the bushfire had a devastating impact on the southern parts of the ACT and the look of the city. Our urban environment has been severely affected by that but I do not think that is what the motion gets to. We need to acknowledge that the look of the ACT has been dramatically affected by the severe bushfire that we experienced nearly two years ago. It will take some time for Mother Nature to recover and to restore our forest and our nature reserves to their previous state. Some aspects of that will take decades.

Some other areas of our non-urban environment that abut our urban areas affect the look of the city and the urban environment. Much of the rebuilding work that we are now engaged in at places such as Mount Stromlo, Narrabundah Hill and parts of Deeks Drive or the Molonglo Valley will certainly take some time to restore and for us to regain some of the ambience that we have experienced now for most of the past century. The same can be said of all those areas skirting the Tuggeranong Parkway from Glenloch Interchange all the way through to Weston Creek. It has been devastated and the look has changed, but we will rebuild it.

We will rebuild a future for those areas of which we can all be proud and which will be a legacy for time to come. We have the capacity and determination to rebuild all of the environments of the Tuggeranong Parkway, all of Mount Stromlo and its environs, all of Narrabundah Hill and those parts that were so severely affected. But to constantly put down the look of the city or Canberra—our home—is quite pedantic and petty point scoring at a particular stage in our electoral cycle. There is no other explanation for anybody, particularly a political party, continually denigrating the city, the look of the city and our most beautiful home. Over the past couple of years I have travelled around Australia pursuant to my duties as a minister. I visit all the other capitals in Australia. I think the ACT is the pre-eminent and most beautiful city of Australia, and all of my visits confirm that.

From time to time issues are raised here that we regard as just so sinful and so outrageous, for instance, issues in relation to graffiti. I spent last weekend in Brisbane. I walked the streets of South Brisbane over Saturday and Sunday, and any comparison between our dedication and commitment to our streets and footpaths and South Brisbane does not bear making. Our determination to deal with issues such as graffiti are significantly different to the experience in other major urban centres such as the other capital cities and other major cities of Australia.

For this parliament to be constantly sending out this message that Canberra has somehow been trashed, that it is ugly, that it is not cared for or loved, that not even the people of the ACT or Canberra esteem Canberra, and that we do not acknowledge that Canberra is the most beautiful of the cities of Australia, is to be regretted. This continual talking down of the place, sneering at it and scorning Canberra and the look of Canberra, does not do the Liberal Party any credit at all.

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